A new chapter of collaboration and intelligence for India’s ICT sector

S MOHINI RATNA
EDITOR, VARINDIA

“It was an honour to address the distinguished gathering at the 24th VARINDIA Star Nite Awards 2025—an evening that celebrated not only achievements but also the vision, resilience, and innovation shaping India’s ICT ecosystem. For more than two decades, VARINDIA has chronicled the nation’s technological evolution, and this year’s event once again reflected the collective strength of OEMs, VARs, solution providers, and industry leaders who continue to drive India’s digital acceleration. As the digital economy expands at unprecedented speed, partnerships are no longer transactional; they have become strategic engines of innovation. OEMs and partners today act as co- innovators, jointly shaping how enterprises adopt AI, modernize infrastructure, secure data, and build scalable, future-ready architectures. In a world where intelligence is rapidly becoming the new infrastructure, the industry stands at a defining moment— one where value is shifting from hardware-centric growth to intelligence-led services, platforms, and outcomes.

The challenges shaping this shift are equally significant. Rising cyber threats, evolving regulatory frameworks, and the urgent need for quantum-safe, AI-driven security architectures demand collaboration at a scale never seen before. As we move toward a cognitive era—where intelligence becomes embedded across systems and processes—the
flow of capital and cognition is becoming inseparable. Value is no longer merely transferred; it is embedded into intelligent frameworks that learn, adapt, and evolve. The Channel Leadership Survey (CLS) 2025 reinforces this transformation, showing that as hybrid work and digital modernization accelerate, IT complexity is rising sharply. Tier 3 and Tier 4 partners have become indispensable, even as sustainability challenges persist for those dependent on short-term or project-based revenue models.

This year’s Star Nite Awards further highlighted the expanding role of partners in managed services and cybersecurity, especially as Indian SMBs face an average of 37 cyberattacks daily and lose more than 7% of annual revenue to security breaches. With participants from 40 IT associations across the country, the event showcased the ecosystem’s collective capacity to innovate, secure digital trust, and drive inclusive growth. The path ahead calls for deeper collaboration, purposeful partnerships, and a sustained commitment to responsible innovation. Together, the industry can build a future where India leads not only in adopting technology but in creating it—strengthening the digital economy with trust, intelligence, and shared success.”